Come, meet, cheer and celebrate in Croatia

It is 14 years ago that Croatia hosted the the Men's EHF EURO in 2000. But it might only be another few days until the country can start preparing for another major European Handball Championship as Croatia bids to host the Men's EHF EURO 2018.

It is the EHF Congress in Dublin on 19/20 September that will vote on the allocation of the event.

Croatia enters the race with the slogan "Come, meet, cheer and celebrate".

"Over the decades handball has been one of the most popular sports in Croatia," the national federation has written in its bid book.

"In order to maintain this tradition, our strongest motive to organize the 2018 Men's European Championship is precisely the further promotion and popularization of handball both among boys and among girls.

"It is unique opportunity for each generation of spectators, but especially for the young ones to see the best of what handball has to offer and to host the best handball men players."

Apart from the Men's EHF EURO 2000, Croatia also hosted the Women's World Championship 2003 and the Men's World Championship 2009.

The continuous use of the infrastructure, i.e. arenas, built for these events is another strongpoint mentioned in the bid book.

If Croatia is awarded the right to host the Men's EHF EURO 2018, the tournament will be played in the following halls:

• Arena Zagreb in Zagreb; capacity: 15,200 (pictured below)
• Spaladium Arena in Split; capacity: 11,000
• City Hall Varazdin; capacity: 5,200
• Zatika sport centre; capacity: 3,500

This article is part of a four-item long series presenting the potential hosts for the Men's and Women's EHF EURO events in 2018 and 2020 over the coming days until Thursday, 18 September.

It is the EHF Congress in Dublin on 19/20 September that will vote on the allocation of these four European Championships.

The bidding nations are the following:

Men’s EHF EURO 2018: Croatia

Women’s EHF EURO 2018: France

Men’s EHF EURO 2020: Austria/Norway/Sweden (joint bid)

Women’s EHF EURO 2020: Norway/Denmark (joint bid)